The Bay Rivers District football season is off and running, literally. In three of four games running backs eclipsed 100 yards, something Poquoson’s Austin Turner and Grayson Boyce could easily have done had they gotten more carries.

They didn’t need them as the Islanders beat Southampton 50-0. The guess here is that the trend in the other three games will be more typical of the Bay Rivers in 2013: lots of close games with plenty of 100-yard rushing nights for district backs.

Below are highlights from an opening weekend that included Lafayette’s nail-biting 16-13 win at Brunswick and two games in which late rallies for district teams fell just short: Tabb’s 28-21 loss to Denbigh and Warhill’s 21-13 loss at Churchland.

Offensive Player of the Week. Jahlil Green ran for 152 yards, including touchdowns of 35 and 8 yards to lead Lafayette to its comeback victory at Brunswick.

Offensive Play of the Week. Tabb junior Antwuan Hicks made a beautiful, leaping off-balance catch late in the game against Denbigh for a 22-yard gain. It set up a touchdown that pulled the Tigers to within seven points in a rally that fell just short.

Offensive Play of the Week #2: Turner juked several Southampton players to get outside, where he outran several others en route to a 29-yard touchdown.

Century Club. Joining Green at better than 100 yards rushing were Warhill senior Devonte Dedmon, who ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Tabb junior Brent Hinson, who ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Honorable mention goes to Turner, who ran for 89 yards and two TDs on just five carries, in addition to catching an 8-yard touchdown pass. Islanders’ teammate Grayson Boyce was pretty good, too, with 80 yards rushing and a TD on nine attempts.

Defensive Player of the Week. Poquoson lineman Seth Norton had seven tackles, more significant than it sounds considering he was in for 20 defensive snaps at most. Those stops included a sack and a tackle for loss that gave the Islanders two points on a safety.

Defensive Play of the Week #1. Lafayette’s Jahlil Green, who plays safety on defense, made a touchdown-saving tackle by running down a Brunswick ball carrier on a sweep, lifting him off the ground and slinging him to the turf like a rodeo steer.

Defensive Plays of the Week #2 and #3. Tabb had to make spectacular plays in the secondary to survive Denbigh’s first-half passing onslaught and Joey Tirado III and Michael McGinley did so. Both broke nicely in front of would-be receivers to make interceptions.